This is a great thread. I had not considered all of the points of view. After reading this, I think I will chip my Gracie, but I will do it when she is under anesthesia getting spayed. My concern with my puppy, as with my indoor cats, is the big what if? What if I had to call 911 for a medical emergency or a fire and one of my babies slipped away when the emergency crews arrived? What if the security alarm went off when I wasn't home and the police forced their way in, or say a robbery occurred, what if one of my babies slipped out then? Overall, I am not a very trusting person, but my experience has been that people are generally good and will do the right thing. I live in a nice housing area with several dog owners, and feel failry confident that if someone here found my Gracie, they would make every effort to return her to me. Bottom line is, if anything happened to any of my fur kids and there was something I could have done to prevent it, and did not do it, I could not live with myself. If my Gracie gets away from me, at least with a chip I will feel like she has the greatest chance of being returned.

Meg was fine Im sure it hurt but it didnt stop her from chasing the kids 15 min later. If youve been what weve been through you would chip as quick as possible. I know we all dont have neighbors as wounderfull as mine [not really] but you never know. And the cops around here are stupid so the chip is the only way to go.

Ok i have 2 cats both of them are chipped it was easy and not a big deal the first cat tigger was done when he was a kitten and lucky's was done while he was neutered at an older age. I also have a lab that we rescued from the pound and we got him chipped before we took him it was a little more dramatic buy he was fine after. As far as someone returning them my cats are indoor cats and don't get out so i don't really don't worry to much but my lab who mind you when he would get out he would sit in my drive way and wait for my husband to get home untill the first time he got picked up because he is chipped they call me right away and it has prob saved his life because now he tries to get out and he is picked up within a couple hours because he looks for the animal control trucks because they don't put him in the kennals they leave him in the office and play with him give him treats and love him i got so mad the last time i picked him up because they told me we just love him he comes right to the truck he is so beautiful and sweet i said if you would punish him by putting him in the kennal mabey he wouldn't try to get out so much!!! They had the nerve to ask me to bring him down to visit them a couple times a week i was like well if you love him so much why don't you stop charging me $150.00 when i pick him up geees!! But the chip is a good thing if they get picked up by the pound they will call right away and not put them to sleep!

These were my thoughts exactly...the 'what if' factor. What if a 'what if' happened and I hadn't done everything in my power to protect them...I just don't know if I could live with that, I mean, it's my job to protect them. We do have wonderful neighbors in our new community, everyone is friendly and we have 2 police officers and a fireman right across the street so I feel pretty secure in that area knowing that they know we have the boys. I'd like to think they would be returned if they ever got out but in reality I know they probably wouldn't be.

When Adrianna gets spayed in 2 weeks, she will also be microchipped. Luca was microchipped at the shelter I got him from. Although I agree with someone who said that if my yorkie ever got lost, there's a slim chance that someone would give her back since they are such a desirable breed......I still want Adrianna to be microchipped. You just never can be too careful.

I'm having my girls chipped at the end of the month when they are spayed. If nothing else - it might be the proof you need to prove that YOUR dog is YOUR dog should some attempt to kidnap and impersonate themselves as your dog's owner.

Good thread - I am ashamed to say - I never thought about chipping my cats! Two of them are faithful indoor cats but one sneaks out to lie outside in the backyard. Again - you never know!

I wanna do this when sophie gets spayed, is there any side effects??

i don't believe so, at least i've never seen or heard of them

Pleaseeeee, never say never!! There's always something that can happen. Mine are all chipped. Yes, the needle is big. Yes, it hurts. But they will get over it in just a few minutes! The info on the tag is primarily for your info. It has the chipping number info on it and it does NOT have to be worn by the dog (sorry, or cat), and the manufacuring company. The number is assigned to your dog/cat upon receiving the chip. If the dog/cat is lost or stolen, the chip does NOT act like a tracking device. But...if the person that has/gets the dog/cat, is a good person and takes him/her to the vet for even a check-up, the vet scans them and they can find out if he/she has been stolen or lost. As long as you, the owner keeps all the records updated. Such as if you move, change your phone number, sell the dog/cat. Again, the info is kept on record, but YOU have to update the info.

No matter if you do it today, or wait until they're getting something else done, please, everyone get your furry canine/felines chipped and keep the records updated. It's not a hard thing to do. It's easier than going to the post office to get your address changed. All it takes is a phone call, and MOST of the numbers are 800 numbers, so there's no charge to you. For me, it's $35.00 to have them microchipped. That's a very inexpensive way to have a little more piece of mind for me.
Suz